The Delmon Young Trade is Still Haunting the Twins 17 Years Later

The Twins were that dunderhead. Had they only been able to see into the future, they could have kept their pencil and traded up to being the proud owners of a used car. That paper clip? Delmon Young. The pencil? Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett. The used car at the end? 63.5 Wins Above Replacement (and counting), according to Baseball Reference, for the Tampa Bay Rays.

If you don’t know this story, you're in for a treat. Let’s go back to 2007, when Young was a rising star for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. This tale started before they even changed their name. The former first-round pick, famously suspended for 50 games in the minors for hitting an umpire with a bat, had just finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

Minnesota, looking for a long-term answer in left field, traded MLB regular shortstop Jason Bartlett, starting pitcher Matt Garza, and minor-league pitcher Eddie Morlan for the promising star. Along with Young came journeyman infielder Brendan Harris and outfielder Jason Pridie.

I will use bWAR as a shorthand for performance here, because we have much to cover in this trade's fallout. Young had a rocky career for the Twins, with only one season in which he was an above-average hitter—and his defense didn’t make up for any of that offensive inconsistency. Over four years with the Twins, he accumulated 1 WAR and was traded for Cole Nelson (who never made MLB) and Lester Oliveros, who threw 21.1 innings for the Twins (0.0 WAR) before his release.

Harris had a three-year career with the Twins as a utility player, which went poorly after the first year (-0.6 WAR total). He was included in the trade sending J.J. Hardy to the Orioles for Brett Jacobsen (never made MLB) and reliever Jim Hoey (-0.6 WAR). Out of mercy and because Hardy was also part of the trade, I’ll leave Hoey out. After 10 games and six plate appearances, Pridie (-0.2 WAR) was waived.

So, in total, the Twins received 0.4 WAR between Young, Harris, Oliveros, and Pridie. How did the Rays come out on the deal?

Well. They came out real well.

Bartlett played three years in Tampa as the everyday shortstop, and he even got an All-Star selection (10.4 WAR). Garza started 94 games over three very good years (8.5 WAR). If this were the end of the story, it would be rough for the Twins, as their 0.4 WAR pales compared to Tampa’s 18.9. Instead, we’re just getting started.

Bartlett was traded in 2010 to San Diego for Cole Figueroa (-0.1 WAR), Brandon Gomes (-0.1 WAR), Cesár Ramos (1.4 WAR), and Adam Russell (0.2). It’s really not much to write home about, but extracting trade value from declining or departing players is part of what’s helped the Rays remain competitive despite a bottom-tier payroll. Sometimes, it leads to dead ends (1.4 WAR between them), but sometimes, it works out better.

Speaking of which, Garza was also traded before 2011, along with minor-league lefty Zac Rosscup and quadruple-A outfielder Fernando Pérez, to the Cubs, for Hak-Ju Lee (never reached MLB), catcher Robinson Chirinos (0.2 WAR), outfielder Sam Fuld (2.3 WAR), and outfielder Brandon Guyer (5.8 WAR). Oh, they also got Chris Archer in that trade--not the Twins version, but the two-time All-Star (12.5 WAR). That’s a total of 20.8 WAR gained from trading Bartlett and Garza themselves.

But the Rays also traded Archer to Pittsburgh amid his worst full season. Archer brought back pitchers Tyler Glasnow (8.6 WAR) and Shane Baz (0.5 WAR), who are both still with the club and continuing to accrue value for the team. They could also be traded to continue the chain further, as happened with the third piece of the Archer trade, Austin Meadows (6.6 WAR; 15.7 WAR from the Archer tree).

Meadows was shipped to Detroit in 2022 for Isaac Paredes (6.7 WAR), who still has four years of team control and is now a subject of trade rumors. The Rays also received the Tigers’ second-round compensatory pick in 2022, which they used to select outfielder Ryan Cermak, a 22-year-old in A ball. If he reaches the Rays, they can stretch this tree into the 2030s.

As of December 14th, it appears Glasnow (pending an extension) has also been flipped, along with Manuel Margot, to the Dodgers for Ryan Pepiot and Johnny Deluca. To date, the Garza half of this tree has amounted to 51.7 WAR for the Rays. Margot's inclusion in the deal muddies the math for Pepiot and Deluca in this trade, but it will nonetheless continue to grow.

Altogether, however, the Rays have netted 63.5 WAR in players acquired in the Delmon Young trade (and players acquired through players acquired in the Delmon Young trade). In comparison to what Minnesota got (0.4 WAR), that’s alarming. And it will continue to grow as the club derives value from Paredes, Baz, Cermak, Pepiot, and Deluca—along with whomever they’re eventually traded for.

Even on the field, the trade continues to bite the Twins. On June 7, Paredes homered to give the Rays an early lead, then started an inning-ending double play in the field in the top of the ninth, killing a Twins bases-loaded rally, before Randy Arozarena walked off Jhoan Durán in the bottom of the inning.

Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “Gregg, you great lout! Every team has this type of trade! Players are traded all the time, so they’re bound to catch a few good ones in a row!”

I may be a great lout, but let’s look at the Twins' own history for context. Many cite the 2003 trade that sent A.J. Pierzynski to San Francisco as the greatest heist in Twins history. Pierzynski played for the Giants for one year (0.3 WAR) and was released.

In return, the Twins gained Boof Bonser (-0.2 WAR), fireballer Francisco Liriano (9.3 WAR), and the greatest closer in team history, Joe Nathan (18.4 WAR). It was undeniably a franchise-altering move that also paved the way for Joe Mauer’s ascent.

It gets better, though. Nathan walked in free agency after nine seasons, and Bonser was traded for Chris Province, who never made the big leagues, but Liriano was traded in 2012. In return, the White Sox sent pitcher Pedro Hernández (-0.7 WAR) and utility infielder Eduardo Escobar.

Escobar had a productive seven-season career in Minnesota (5.7 WAR) and was traded in 2018 to Arizona during a deadline fire sale. The Diamondbacks returned a package that included Gabriel Maciel and Ernie De La Trinidad, who left the organization before reaching the majors. It also brought back hard-throwing pitching prospect Jhoan Durán (4.7 WAR).

Durán will continue accumulating value for Minnesota, and the returns for Pierzynski currently add up to 37.2 WAR, which is substantial. Compared to the 0.3 WAR Pierzynski put up in San Francisco, there’s no way to take the trades as anything other than a win. However, it’s just over half of the value of the Young trade, and there’s only one piece in Minnesota still chugging along, compared to four in Tampa. The Pierzynski also took place four seasons earlier than the Young trade.

Is this reason to harbor resentment toward the Twins or Terry Ryan? No. It’s just a comically absurd series of events that span nearly two decades and continue to get funnier. These things happen, but it’s usually not to this extent. Could the Twins have kept Garza and Bartlett, starting the same chain reaction for themselves? Maybe, but so many things had to go right for the Rays to get to this place that I wouldn't count on any GM to pull it off. Heck, it's taken four Rays GMs to do it.